[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township
of Hampton 10-25-1988 by Ord. No. 388 (Ch. 26, Part 1, of the
1995 Code of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
It shall
be unlawful for any person to put or place into any watercourse in
the Township or to allow or permit to be discharged from property
owned or occupied by such person into any watercourse in the Township
any substance of any kind or character which will result in pollution.
B.
POLLUTION
For the
purpose of this section, "pollution" is defined as follows:
Contamination of any watercourse in the Township such as
will create, or is likely to create, a nuisance or to render such
waters harmful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety
or welfare, or to domestic, municipal, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
recreation or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock and
wildlife, including birds, fish, or other aquatic life; this term
includes, but is not limited to, such contamination by alteration
of the physical, chemical or biological properties of such waters,
or change in temperature, taste, color or odor thereof, or the discharge
of any liquid, gaseous, radioactive, solid or other substance into
such waters.
It shall be unlawful for any person, persons, members of a partnership
or officers of any corporation acting on behalf of the said corporation
to store any materials within the banks of a watercourse situate within
the Township or within such proximity to any such watercourse which,
in the event of flooding or overrunning of the watercourse, would
cause such materials to be carried downstream or which might cause
harm or danger to any persons or property located in or adjacent to
such watercourse. Any such materials so stored without some type of
restraining fence or other device designed to prevent such materials
from being taken downstream in the event of flood, flooding or overrunning
shall, in and of itself, be a violation of this section of this chapter.
It shall be unlawful for any person to withdraw more than two
gallons of water in any calendar month from any watercourse in the
Township, except that residential property owners shall be permitted
to withdraw more than two gallons per month for noncommercial purposes
from streams running through their property. No property owner shall
change or divert the watercourse or banks of a stream or remove rocks,
earth, sand or vegetation from banks of existing watercourses unless
approved by the appropriate agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and the office of Planning and Community Development of the Township
of Hampton.
[Amended 4-26-1995 by Ord. No. 505]
Any person violating the terms of this chapter, whether as an
individual, principal, agent, employer or employee of another, shall,
upon conviction, be subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000 plus costs
of prosecution and, in default of payment of such fine and costs,
to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Each day that such
person does not comply with the provisions of this chapter shall constitute
a separate offense.
If any person is in violation of § 302-1 of this chapter, the Township may, at its option, require such person to abate any pollution and restore the watercourse to its prior condition, or cause the same to be done and collect the cost thereof together with a penalty of 10% of such cost from such person.
The collection of any penalty under the provisions of this chapter
shall not be construed as stopping the Township from proceeding in
courts of law or equity to abate, restrain or enjoin conduct forbidden
under this chapter or to abate nuisances under existing law. It is
hereby declared to be the purpose of this chapter to provide additional
and cumulative remedies, and nothing in this chapter shall in any
way abridge or alter rights of actions or remedies now or hereafter
existing in equity or under the common law or statutory law.
For purposes of enforcement of this chapter, the Township Manager
or such person designated by the Manager as enforcement officer under
the provisions of this chapter shall be the proper authority to enforce
the provisions of this chapter.
